And one



N. R. KHAUSE.

SPRING comaoue `ron vfmcLEs. APPLICATIBN FILED )UNE i. 1920.

Patented May 31, 1921.

Imvarz'f' Mmmm 7E. Krau,

J l It..."

UNITED -s'rii'riizsA PA'ipsNT OFFICE. -i

NORMAN E. KRAUSE, 0F RACINE, WISCONSINgASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH T0".

WILLIAM F. SAWYER, 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN, AND ONE-EIOURTH T0 JAMES A. WALSH, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA. l

l SPRING-CONTROLLER FOR VEHICLES.

Patented May 31, 1h21.

. l Application led June 1, 1920il Serial No. 385,470.

To all w hom t only concern Be it known that l, NoiiiiAN R. KRAUSE, a citizen ot' the United States, residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Controllers for Vehicles, of which the following is a specilication.

In the operation ot' motor .vehicles it is. a, common practice in passing through ruts oi' over obstructions to be subjected to violenv jolting, the body of the vehicle through tlfe .resiliency of the springs over which it lis mounted undergoing a sudden downw `d and u'pward movement, unich to the disc ntort ot' and possible injury to the occupa its, as well as a serious detriment to the veli cle, for the reason that the weight land pre. ure ol' such body cahses the springs to be f( reed downwardly to substantially their liin'it of nioveiuent and to instantly rebound, tlieir inherent force throwing theni upwari y be'- yond their normal position and thus iniparting an undue strain directlyY uponthc parts connected thereto, and to the vehi'le generally. lt is the object of my prient in- .vention to provide simple and ine. pensive means for ready attachment to a vehicle whereby the force ot' the vehicle springs is controlled in their movement and checked in their rebound. so that under the conditions stated when theY body suddenly descends it will be caused to gradually return to its normal position without being subjected to violent jolting so commonly experiencedA in the use of motor vehicles, ln the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation ol' a motor vehicle, Yparts thereof being shown in dotted lines, while my iinproved device and the parts with which it communicates are in full lines; Figi' 2 a; plan of my device: and Figs. 3 andf'4 are 1 leather is highly suitable, but desire to be understood as not limiting myself to tlie emsol I ploynient of any particular material for the f pui-pose? Said snubber preferably Acomprises a tongue, 15, and the strands, 18, the

latter being suitably7 attached to the frame views showing the manner of attaching and assembling the same.

Vln said drawings the portions marked, `5,

indicate the vehicle body, 6, the frame, 7, a

common form otI spring employed in suchi vehicles, 8, a wheel, 9, a fender, 10, a runningl board, 11, a support therefor, 12, the axle housing, and, 13, the rear axle, all of which are common and well known, and forni part of many types of motor vehicles now in use.

My invention is a snubber designed to 1 wise.

.the snub er, instead of employing an sa ol the vehicle, brackets, 1S, bolted to a ferme member (Fie: 3) indicating s Vpractical `niethod, which brackets siippoit va, pin, 20,

about which the ends, 21. of thecstrands 17 are looped and secured by rivets or other- 12. 'the tongiu` l5 'thereof being ot' and to the support l1 or otherpart of the vehicle in any suitable inaniiei, that indi-4 be retained within a guide and thus main-V ,tani its normal position about the axle lionsuig without liability of slipping sidewse.-

It will be understood, however, that an 'ondiiiary strap may be employed with a.

winding wrap -or convolution about said housing, the lattei' being provided with clips or other ineanstor preventing the side 47'0 1 llhen attached to said frame the simbber is looped around the axle housing assed for' wardly between the strands and is anchored* b'v a spring` 145, connected to the end there-l 'l an slipping ofsiicli strap, but such im arrangenient would be unsightly and detract from the appearance of a vehicle; and it may be further understood that a supplemental ele' nient ma be provided if desired for -l'oo ing its housing for that purpose. A i

vIn operation (two sniibbers are em ci one being placed at each side of the ve icle), when the vehicle passes into a depression or over an obstruction, the body thereof forces springs T downwardly, and during such movement springs 16 are constantly pulling upon tongue 15, thereby gripping the snubber about axle housing 12, so that when springs T reach their limit of downward f movement, which may vary according to `and at which point my brackets 18 m yto the vehicle, and yieldix;

circumstances, 'and the tendency thereof is overcome the friction caused by the grippingof thewsnubber about said axle housing by the pulling action of springs 16,

Awhich friction checks their spring forceand retards the reverse movement thereof, withA the result that such friction andjjthe pulling against springs 16 cause the vehicle body and lts frame to gradually" and steadily move upwardly and return to normal pos1- tion without the shock experienced when a jolt occurs in vehicles of this class as ordinarily constructed.- The friction'al .contact of the loop ortion of the snubber may be lessened if esi'red by applying oil thereto, and which tends to renier leather, fabric and the like more elastic and more sensitive to any irregular motion ofthe vehicle body'.`

As indicated, my improved snubbingdevice is extremelysiiple in character, and is adapted toI be a plledieitherat the factory as an origina part of equipment, or

may be readily attached to such vehicles alread in use; iwithout the employment ot specia tools or equipment, as 1t 1s a com mon practice to provide bolt holes in tY frame for attaching tire carrying bracke be secured as indicated in Fig. 1. l

I claim as my invention:

1. A snubber fo!l vehicles, comp'risin a flexible member embodying guides an a tongue the latter being adapted to encircle a vehicle element and pos1tioned between said guides, means for attaching said 'des means or attaching said tongue to sai vehicle.

Q. A snubber for vehicles comprising guide members, a tongue member extend 40 ing from .said ide members and adapted to be looped `a out a vehicle element and retained between said guide members, means for attaching said guide membersto a vehicle, and means for attaching said tongue member to a vehicle. i Y

3. The combination, in a vehicle, of an axle, a body, a. spring therebetween, a snubber communicating with said body and looped about said axle, said snubber embodying guides and a tongue passing therebetween, and means connecting the tongue of said snubber to said vehicle to permit the movement of said snubber about said axle as said body raises and lowers by the action of said spring. y

4. A snubber for vehicles, com iising .a fiexible member embodyin `gul tongue, a bracket for attac ing said` guides to a vehicle, means about which said snubber is loo d, a spring secured tn -theepposite end o said snubber, and means for securing said spring to said vehicle.

5. The combination, with a, vehicle, of a Iiexible member attached thereto and looped about `an `element of Vthe vehicle, said member embodying 'u guide' and a looping eleelement of said exible member and to sai y' I vehicle for controlling the 4movement of said member about said vehicle element.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

NORMAN R. KRAUSE.

Witnesses:` v.

' JE. M. JOHNSON,

K. M. Bo'rr. 

